The book was about a woman Jane suffering from infertility, and her newly pregnant bestfriend has made a best friend who is out to get her. The new girl in the group Lexi is trying to set Jane up to be some jealous, unstable, cruel woman, but why does Lexi hate her so much, and how come Jane's bestfriend cannot see through that?
At the same time, her busy plumber husband seem to be distraught, shaken- up and detached, what is going on with him? There's also excepts from the POV of someone in the hospital with schemes, and how does this all tie in to the story?

I found some parts a bit cliche, and extra, but still, this was definitely a page- turner that I couldn't put down.

What a book! Had me gripped the whole way through! Written from the points of view of the main character and her husband, I loved how they both had separate story lines that then entwined together. The chapter are also a nice length, and whilst some chapters include flash forwards/flashbacks it wasn’t confusing at all and really made me want to find out how they got to the flash forward. I loved the twists in the storyline too, and even though I had guessed the twist early on, it’s written in such a way that has you doubting yourself until the end.

The characters were portrayed really well too, and you really felt like you knew them and felt their emotions. There were parts of the book where I wanted to scream at some of them or give them a good shake!

The only thing I would say is I felt like the ending was slightly rushed, but that didn’t take away from my enjoyment of the book!

It is also worth noting that this book does touch upon some potentially triggering subjects so check the trigger warnings

I thought this book started out slow but it all wrapped up nicely by the end. It turned out to be an exciting book with lots of twists and turns.

"A totally unputdownable psychological thriller with a jaw-dropping twist"

Probably the most accurate description of a book I have seen for a while.

This book had me reaching to read it EVERY available opportunity and furiously trying to see what happens next .

With some highly emotive content, it could have been a bit of a raw read, but I found this wasn't the case. It gave a real insight into the lives of the characters (particularly Jane and Frankie) and you can't help but feel drawn to them and what they are going through.

With so much going on, it's great to end with all those 'loose ends' tied up. This book does that nicely and I would say it's 5 stars from me.

WOW! What a fantastic psychological drama.
Jane’ life is turned completely upside down when Lexi is introduced into her friendship group. Her life is never the same again. Her best friend Sophie thinks Jane has mental issues and should seek help, she does not believe Jane when she tries to warn her of Lexi’s behaviour.

This was an utter page turner for me as I needed to know what was going to happen.
I thoroughly recommend this book and thank the publisher and Netgalley for an ARC.

This book was not for me. I found the premise incredibly interesting - a friend dealing with infertility finds out someone is faking their pregnancy all the while watching her friends become enamored with this woman who seems to be very sinister to our main character.

but at 32% barely any of that happened. I kept reading to figure out when the story was going to start and it really never did. I found myself bored and disinterested in the characters, and Lexie felt over-the-top villainous that its shocking no one else noticed?

the hints of Franks story were definitely intriguing but i never got enough of them to hold my interest in the book itself.

Do i want to know what happened to our characters when they were in the hospital? absolutely. but not badly enough to keep reading the book.

I think the book description should be changed to better reflect the fact that a solid third (or more?) of the book has nothing to do with this mysterious non-baby.

Ultimately this book was not for me - but i suspect fans of Lynes will still enjoy it as I do appear to be an anomaly on disliking it

Hmmmmm. I wanted more from this book. It was good but I couldn’t really connect with the characters. Sophie was blah and then Jane. This was kind of like a lifetime movie. You are interested and invested in the story and you have to finish but it’s a little cheesy. Haha
Overall, I still enjoyed turning the pages on this one. Thanks NetGalley for this advanced copy of this book.

Jane and Sophie are best friends. Having supported each other through a lot, it is a bond that Jane thought she could depend on for life... until Lexie shows up. A new friend of Sophie's who is instantly overbearing and obnoxious, but why is it only Jane that seems to be able to see it?
At home, despite their fertility issues, Jane and her husband Frankie still have a very happy life together with their daft dog Des. But when Frankie, who is usually her rock starts to seem distant and begins working way more than usual, she knows something is wrong, but can't quite put her finger on it.
Jane just wants her happy husband and friend back and to move on with her life building her coffe shop business and saving for their world trip, but how easy is that going to be?

This is another absolute cracker from Lynes. It totally grabbed me from the start and turned into a literal unputdownable page-turner of the exceptional quality that I have come to expect from this author. A dark domestic drama/thriller that had more layers than a lasagne! There are the obvious friendship, infertility, marriage topics covered, but there are also undercurrents of betrayal, bullying and blackmail.
The stand out part I felt was the characters. They were superbly realistic. From the ridiculously loveable Jane who I just want to cuddle, Sophie who I really wanted to shake, to the appalling Lexie who really needed a slap! I think we have all come across each and every character drawn in this story as they are so true to life and well-written. I really enjoyed reading about this particular freindship dynamic and how heartbreaking the disruption of these can be.

Amazing book, highly recommended 😊

The baby shower is a fast domestic thriller. So hard to put down. I do love stories told from multiple points of view. Jane has some fertility issues and her best friend becomes pregnant and befriends another girl to add to the mix who also is pregnant. The twists and turns come fast. Jane seems like a needy friend who’s jealous and Lexie comes into the picture and well you have to read it!

Where to start? A friend had told me how good this book was and having read all the authors previous books I knew it would be but this book captured me and kept me from page 1
It is a multi layered story surrounding 2 best friends and what happens when someone infiltrates that friendship but it covers so much more including adult bullying,envy, buying friendships plus the author has been extremely brave and tackled a taboo subject that is not often spoke about openly ( cant say what or else will ruin the story ) all sensitive subjects are handled really well and are thought provoking
Character wise…..we meet Lexie, the new ‘friend’, the infiltrator, she is someone I had one of my strongest reactions ( to a character in a book ) ever to, the author has created a monster 🤗 and I loathed every scheming thing she did, honestly she is soooo bad ( which of course makes her soooo good to read about )
The story grabs you, the writing keeps you hooked and it really doesn’t let up until the last sentence
Everything about it is brilliant and without doubt will be one of my favourite reads this year, I will not forget it or the characters nor the themes covered, superb in every way

10/10
5 Stars

This is a fast paced thriller that you won’t want to put down! Jane and Sophie are best friends. Sophie is having baby number two and Jane can’t get pregnant. Enter Lexie. She befriends Sophie and infiltrates Jane’s life. The action doesn’t stop and it will keep you up late wanting to find up what happens. This was my first book by S. E. Lynes but it won’t be my last. I would like to thank Bookouture and Netgalley for a complimentary copy of the book. The opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

S.E. Lynes does it again with her latest thriller. This book is all about two friends Sophie and Jane who are as thick as thieves. However when a new girl (Lexi) infiltrates their inner circle things start to go haywire and underlying issues start to bubble up to the surface. This was a really good read and I found the characters really complex and fascinating. I couldn't get enough of them. I really liked the dynamic and how Lexi was so devious it was crazy, I was constantly yelling at the novel not to trust her. This book was really good and I'm so glad that I was able to read it. I really loved the main character Jane she had so many things that she was going through between
her friendships, her marriage crumbling, and the consistent ache for a child that she was never able to conceive. She had so many problems to begin with but throw a cheating husband into the mix and her whole life starts to crumble. This is one book that will keep you up all night just waiting to see what happens next and will tug at your heartstrings as you really connect to the characters. I'm so glad that I was able to read this book and SE Lynes continues to to rise in my mind as a top author and an author to watch. Great read, you won't be disappointed.

Publication date 1/3/22. Thank you to Netgalley S.E Lynes and Bookouture for the ARC of the baby shower.

WHAT A BOOK!! look i guessed the plot and twists quite early on but i found the book so enjoyable to read. with themes of infertility, bullying, sexual assault and friendship I honestly couldn't put it down. Jane and Frankie are married, they can't have a baby because Jane is going through early menopause which is completely devastation. Jane dreams of motherhood but settles with running her cafe, runner beans running club and Friday drinks with the girls. Her best friend Sophie introduces a new women into the friendship group her name is Lexi, Lexi has it in for her and she has no idea why. what's worse is that her so called best friend Sophie won't listen to her, she just thinks Jane is over sensitive because she's pregnant and so is Lexi. Frankie buys a new watch a watch that changes his life because if he never had his watch her never would of met Natasha and his world wouldn't be imploding.

Honestly there is so much I can review about this book but not enough time. I found the storylines so interesting how they are told along side each other, but we only know snippets until all the pieces are put together. In the authors letter she talks about breakdown of relationships how their is so much out there about romantic break ups but very little about friendships and i couldn't agree more. I felt she was extremely clever in how she writes about how Lexi comes between Jane and Sophie as well as the hurt this ultimately affects every other aspect of Jane's life. Jane's character is full of depth and i found her to be a really relatable character. She's just a 30 something year old trying to deal with her lose and trauma, with her outlet being her friends.

Frankie's story is hard to read and honestly it's done beautifully. I honestly felt when it started with it started with a watch i was like where is this going, honestly i didn't think it would go where it went but yeah it was amazing. The author shows a lot of respect towards her characters and this is shown in spades with Frankie's story.

The prose is done so well, its not full of over descriptions which i appreciated because i got to imagine places and people build their characters. I also enjoyed that we started at the hospital and we get to hear from Jane very early on. throughout the story we jump a head of time to the hospital and it felt appropriate.

All in all i highly recommend this book, its a tragic story of relationships not just romantic ones. it also focuses on not judging any single character until you know their story. 4.5 stars. if you like Louise Jenson, Jane Fallon or Hedi Parks you will love the baby shower.

The title could have been more original, the story is not new either - the characters are all within childbearing age and the plot is about who's pregnant & who's not.
It is a bit heavy handed, I figured out almost immediately what the twist at the end would be (there are clues all around).
However, the writing is good - setting and character descriptions are so real, the interactions between friends, you feel as if are are experiencing the story yourself, which is what kept me up at night reading.
I think the story went a little over the top towards the end, but I really felt for Jane & her kind husband, Frankie. It was their love that made the book so relatable to me.

Jane can't believe it, when at the baby shower, she sees Lexie with a baby belt on. If she's not pregnant, then why is she pretending to be? ⁣
⁣
As the story slowly unraveled, I kept thinking to myself how crazy the whole situation was! But it was crazy in a “whoa, I better keep reading way”. I really felt for Jane and Frankie, being put in the positions they were and I felt the author wrote about the deeper issues extremely well.

I had a little mixed feeling about this book but as I like the ending it turned to be better than it begins. There are many bad coincidences and consequence. But the book is fast and it is not just about Baby Shower. It is more about resentements and terrible sentiments, misanderstandings. I felt with the main character that was really in bad sitation but had to be there in good and worse. Her bestfriend choose to belive others, and that was not enough. But witj her will she discovered and solved the terrible missunderstanding that happened so many time before.

Thank you Netgalley and Bookouture for this arc.

A fantastic read. This one has it all mystery , intrigue, deception. It shows how people can be manipulated into thinking wealth and all its benefits are everything. Some great current issues dealt with including social media.

This was a fabulous book. It kept me hooked from start to finish. I did guess what was going on but it didn’t take away any of the enjoyment from reading it. Very enjoyable book

Couldn't put it down it was that good and the ending was a two fingers up.

This was a gripping read and for me it was an afternoon read as I just wanted to finish and found out what happened.

I was given an advance copy by the publishers and netgalley but the review is entirely my own.

(3.75*)

The Baby Shower by S.E. Lynes is a very fast-paced, unputdownable read.

The story follows Jane (a happily married café owner with a “good” group of friends, who is trying to have a baby), her husband (Frankie), and a few of her friends. Jane has a friend, Sophie, who has a friend of her own, Lexie, who gets invited to one of the outings Jane and Sophie are having. Lexie has it out for Jane and throughout the whole book she spends time bullying and hurting Jane at any/every point she can. Why is she being evil? What are her intentions? How far is she willing to go?

Once you start reading, you almost feel like it’s NEEDED to keep going, just because of the way it hooks you in and feeds you with twists and turns that you won’t see coming.

I have never checked out any of this author’s other work, but definitely will be doing so now, because I loved the way it played out. — The writing was what made it an easy and fast read, because it just flowed so well. Nice character development, well-written, and great placements of the twists and turns, so they don’t feel so out-of-nowhere.

Thank you Netgalley and Bookouture for an ARC in honor of my honest review.